


Something So Precious About This

by MegaWallflower



Category: Naruto
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Edging, Established Relationship, Fluff and Smut, Hand Jobs, Introspection, M/M, Morning Sex, Oral Sex, Pillow Fights, Pillow Talk, PoV Might Guy, Retirement, Teasing, Tickle Fights, Top Hatake Kakashi, rock paper scissors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2020-07-31 13:53:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20116153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MegaWallflower/pseuds/MegaWallflower
Summary: Kakashi and Guy spend a morning in bed.





	Something So Precious About This

When Guy woke up in the morning, Kakashi was right next to him now.

Like clockwork, every morning, Guy woke to the sunlight burning bright orange behind his eyelids as he slowly pulled himself into consciousness. The soft rise and fall of Kakashi’s chest would be outlined by the slats of light bleeding through the shades.

Today, no sunlight filtered through the curtains – the morning was overcast and damp, and it would definitely rain later – but he didn’t mind it. In Guy’s mind, the sun was always shining somewhere in the world and a light shower would be good for Kakashi’s garden. They would probably be ready to harvest soon, and Kakashi and Guy would argue over whether the fresh produce should be used for Guy’s super-spicy curry or Kakashi’s roasted fish and vegetables.

With or without the sunlight, Guy felt bright and warm in Kakashi’s presence again this morning.

Kakashi rolled over among the rumpled sheets, hair ruffled, to reach out and pull Guy closer as soon as Guy shifted to get up.

It was surreal seeing someone as paranoid as Kakashi like this, toeing the line between dreams and reality, unguarded, unaware. Sleeping like he knew he was in no danger of not waking up. He’d never, ever imagined that either of them would get to experience the feeling of lazing in a lover’s arms, feeling weighed down with sleep, body aching deliciously from the night before, so full of love and completely at peace. They’d both been at war for as long as they’d worn their headbands –with the world, with themselves.

But now, there was peace.

Peace was a gift that wouldn’t be wasted. It was a chance for Guy to fill in some gaps, to rest, to grow again. It was a chance to be with Kakashi in a way they had never allowed themselves to be before.

Even though Guy saw him daily, every morning, every day, without fail, it still filled him with an amazed kind of joy. At times, he wondered what he could have done to deserve a happiness like this.

He could name a million things Kakashi had done, a million things that Kakashi had been put through, to be worthy of a happy ending. Guy was overjoyed to be able to see Kakashi’s well-deserved peace from so close up. Now, in the time he hadn’t expected life to afford him, he found himself with his favorite person in the world by his side each and every day. The idea of retirement had filled Guy with trepidation at first, and it still did, if he was being honest. But at moments like this, he felt like he really could get used to this new life.

“Mmm…” Kakashi stirred slightly in his sleep.

“Riva—?”

Guy’s voice was muffled by a sudden kiss. Almost automatically, Guy responded in earnest, returning the kiss and trying to equal Kakashi’s sudden enthusiasm.

Kakashi sighed when their lips parted, but Guy could see his brow quirk and his lips curl into a smirk of sorts as he pulled away. His dark eyes, often teasing and unserious, gleamed in the dim light of the room. Like the rest of him, they were softer than Guy’s. Warm and gentle, despite everything. And—could that be amusement dancing along the corners of Kakashi’s lips in that drowsy smile of his? “It’s too early for you to be grinning like that. It’s creepy,” he taunted, in a sarcastic tone that assured Guy that, yes, this was definitely Kakashi after all.

“Wha—” Guy reeled back, offended. “And what about you! What kind of sneak attack was that, Rival?!”

“Where do you get off calling me sneaky?” he muttered, half-awake and trying to return to being fully asleep. Kakashi yawned, stretching his limbs underneath the blankets before snuggling right back into them, shuffling closer to Guy in what resembled a wrestling hold more than it resembled spooning. A soft content hum left his throat as he nuzzled in closer to the other, specifically against his chest, as if testing for a heartbeat. Something else Kakashi did on a nearly daily basis now. “When you make a face like that, of course I’m going to want to kiss you, creep.”

“Wha—Creep?!” Guy feigned offense. “Excuse me?! A man who carries around dirty books to read in public is calling me a creep?!”

The former Hokage and eternal Make out Paradise enthusiast closed his eyes and lay back down against his rival. “Yes, he is. Now be quiet. I’m trying to sleep.”

“…Fine.” Guy relented, moving his elbows so that Kakashi’s arms could wrap around him properly. He sighed, almost feeling like that counted as a defeat.

“I don’t need to get up yet anyway, right? I’m retired,” Kakashi cast a glance at the clock, smirking when he seemed to think its time agreed with his conclusion. “Neither do you, for that matter.”

Guy frowned. Sometimes, he wondered if Kakashi’s time as Hokage had made him too good at persuasion. But then again, Guy had already been easy for Kakashi to persuade.

“What are you pouting about?” Kakashi didn’t even have to open his eyes. He knew Guy too well.

“I’m not pouting,” Guy huffed.

“_I _should be the cranky one. You’re the one that woke me up in the first place.”

“—I did not!” Kakashi winced at Guy’s volume, so he tried again, quieter this time. “I did not wake you up. I was perfectly silent.”

Kakashi pushed himself up and finally locked eyes with Guy, silencing him for real now.

“You did.”

Kakashi leaned close as he says it, touching fingers to the bottom of Guy’s jaw and angling his face. He dropped his voice an octave when he spoke again, breath against Guy’s lips. “I could feel the sheer force of your gaze. What kind of shinobi would I be if I could sleep through a piercing gaze full of lethal intent?”

Guy could feel the beginnings of a blush warming his cheeks. That small touch was all it took; his heart was already skipping a beat. “You— I wasn’t looking that hard! And there was no murderous intent in it! Or any flare of my chakra!”

Lying back down on Guy’s chest, Kakashi lazily traced his right index finger down Guy’s bare chin and neck, causing a shiver right at the back of his spine. Guy’s lips pursed to stifle the faintest of moans. Kakashi had teasing him down to a science. “There was _some_ kind of intent in your eyes,” he whispered.

Guy’s cheeks and ears were burning. He opened his mouth to defend himself, but he could only stutter out half-sentences.

Kakashi flopped back onto the mattress and closed his eyes. “What are you so embarrassed about? Don’t want to admit you’re actually the pervert here?”

Kakashi had always been better with words and twisting these situations around that way.

There were things Guy was better at, though.

The next thing Kakashi knew, he was laughing out loud as Guy suddenly tickled his waist.

A few years ago, Kakashi had boasted an impressive reputation. The most powerful teacher who led both the legendary Naruto and the infamous Sasuke, with a sharp intellect and a calm disposition, feared by all and revered by all, the genius ninja who faced both the demon Madara and the goddess Kaguya and lived to tell the tale.

Apparently, the fearsome Lord Sixth was a little out of practice, because here he was, a giggling mess, rolling to the other side of the bed in a futile effort to escape from Guy’s attack. His back was pressed onto the soft mattress. A brief yet ticklish gasp burst from his lungs when Guy deliberately dropped his body onto Kakashi’s.

“Guy—hey!” he laughed and laughed, face turning red and eyes starting to water.

This whole thing was childish, but Guy wouldn’t trade this for anything in the world.

“—What the hell, Guy?!” Kakashi finally freed himself and pushed Guy at arm’s length to stop the assault.

“Ha! Now that was an interesting sound!”

“Don’t do that right after I wake up! Now who’s making sneak attacks?!”

“Did you think I was going to kiss you instead?” Guy tried for a smirk, but ended up just beaming.

To wipe the grin away, Kakashi took a pillow and smacked him in the face. “Yeah. And you owe me now.”

“I _owe_ you?”

Kakashi rolled his eyes and opened his arms. “Just come here.”

This time, Guy wouldn’t simply relent like a defeated kid.

Guy pulled Kakashi into a cuddle, planting kiss after kiss on his face, everywhere but his lips. Kakashi cackled as Guy’s lips found his bare neck, pressing feathery kisses and even sucking a few marks on the spots that could easily make his knees weak. Kakashi turned his face to push it into the pillows, squirming onto his belly and trying to escape by burrowing further into the sheets.

“Enough, enough! I told you I’m trying to sleep!”

“You said I owe it to you! And I’d never cheat my rival out of everything he was owed!” Guy managed between loud, showy kisses.

“The debt’s paid. In full,” Kakashi laughed.

Guy finally released him, still laughing uproarious along with Kakashi. “I can’t help it. Something about you today makes me want to kiss you!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kakashi tried to fix Guy with a fake-serious glare, one he’d perfected during his tenure as Hokage. “That’s pretty rude to the me of yesterday.”

“Nah, you made me want to kiss you yesterday, too!”

“Well, hopefully I’ll have the same effect on you tomorrow.”

“Ha! We’ll see!”

The usual words and the usual laughter lapsed again into these conversations they’d had before, day after day, year after year.

But their feelings didn’t change, didn’t even stagnate. Rather, they fell more and more in love with each other, leaving them no choice but this eternal bliss.

Now that they had retired from active duty and Kakashi had passed on the mantle of Hokage to Naruto, they had more free time than they knew what to do with. At least, it was more than Guy knew what to do with. Kakashi was content to lay around and spend it reading and rereading his books.

But Kakashi also seemed content to wrap himself around Guy and force him to relax as well, and so much of their time was spent spoiling each other.

Guy was often annoyed by that. Falling into Kakashi’s pace and doing whatever he wanted again and again, almost felt like a defeat. But it also felt like it was a wonderful thing, somehow.

He thought back to the countless times he had sparred with Kakashi. How he struggled in the beginning to hide his weaknesses from him. How it felt the first time he lost to him in a proper fight. How it only made Guy try even harder.

He remembered the times pinned to the rough ground, and how quickly that could be turned to his advantage with a kiss; no wonder there, really, as their heated skin touched on the other’s, cheeks red and hair tousled, their hearts pounding frantically with exercise and excitement. Adrenaline could be quite the aphrodisiac.

He remembered the times, at first few and far in between and then more often, when he won their spars, fair and square. He remembered his own proud smile blooming on his lips as he looked up with starry eyes at Kakashi. He remembered Kakashi rolling his eyes sometimes, or smiling sometimes, or looking just as determined to win the next one.

He remembered Kakashi pushing him to his limits, and beyond them, panting, sweating, out of breath; his muscles screaming for rest but being forced to move on nonetheless. He remembered times when these excruciating sparring sessions were the things that he looked forward to most in the world.

He also remembered that one time, Kakashi pinned under him in his black undershirt and standard-issue pants, kunai kicked out of his hands, his eerily dark eye sparkling with all the love he couldn’t possibly hold entirely in himself no matter how broad his chest was, looking up at Guy and blurting without much ado, “Marry me.” He remembered his own enthusiastic yes and the kiss after it that felt like fireworks behind his closed eyes.

The few times Guy had imagined that maybe, someday, he would be married and start a family, he’d never pictured the proposal quite like that, so matter-of-fact and plain. But it still made him grin to think about it. Guy would have to give that point to Kakashi, because he couldn’t have made the moment any better himself.

Guy’s grin at the memory turned into a guffaw, and then boisterous laughter shook his whole body.

“What are you laughing about now?” Kakashi asked, quirking an eyebrow at him.

“I was just thinking about how cute you are sometimes,” Guy answered, almost honestly. Kakashi grimaced, and if he had been wearing his mask, now would have been when he pulled it up to cover his face.

“_Cute_? What the hell, Guy?”

Maybe cute wasn’t the right word for it. But there was something charming about Kakashi that Guy couldn’t put into words and didn’t need to. Kakashi knew how he felt.

Guy tried for a mysterious smile and hummed.

Kakashi just rolled his eyes again. “Well, you’re clearly wide awake now. You should go make me some breakfast.”

“What? Me? But you always say my omelets are too sweet,” Guy complained, dropping the cool demeanor almost immediately.

Kakashi raised his head so Guy could clearly see him roll his eyes at that. “I said that _once_, years ago. Why do you only ever hold grudges against _me_? Besides,” Kakashi flopped over, basking lazily on his back. He was getting more and more like Ningame. “I don’t feel like doing any work today. I just want to lounge in bed.”

“How unusual,” Guy said sarcastically.

“Right? I’m usually such a hardworking, model shinobi. I was the Hokage. You made me this way. Take responsibility.”

“You’re blaming _me_?”

“Because it’s your fault. When I’m with you, I feel lethargic, and just… lie around.”

“No, you’re just an old man, Rival.”

“Hey. That’s too far,” Kakashi shot him another fake glare. “Do I need to remind you that you’re _older_ than me?”

Guy proudly pounded a fist into his chest, where, right underneath his shirt, was the seal that kept him alive. “Not at heart! My heart is more youthful than anyone else’s! Especially yours!”

Without warning, Kakashi whacked Guy in the face with an especially plush pillow, muting his laughter and sending him crashing down on the bed.

Pillows were becoming an increasingly dangerous weapon.

“Hey!” Guy let out a muffled whine against the pillow.

“You deserve it! Calling your rival an old man! Don’t treat me like I’m one of the elders or something.”

“_Kakashi_.”

Kakashi relented and rolled away, just out of Guy’s reach in anticipation of a counterattack. “Maa… Fine. Since you’re being difficult today, I’ll go make breakfast. You’ll have to eat my miso soup again.”

“Hey,” Guy caught him around the waist before he could leave the bed. “Wait. I want to be with you a bit longer.”

“We can’t, you busybody. It’s morning. Aren’t you supposed to be out on your morning run by now?” Kakashi pried him off.

“I thought you said you just wanted to lie around, Kakashi?” Guy tried instead, in his most alluring voice.

“That was…” Kakashi stiffened when he felt Guy’s hand snaking under his shirt and brushing against his abdomen. “—Hey, where’s that hand going?”

“I think you can figure that out,” he chimed with a cheeky grin.

With that opening, Guy suddenly tickled Kakashi’s waist. He squirmed, shoulders pushing up on reflex and a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as a small giggle escaped.

“—Guy, that tickles.” And another laughing fit had Kakashi, former friend-killer ANBU, nearly gasping for breath. He made no actual attempt to push Guy away this rime. It’d be difficult to anyway, with his arms wrapped around him like that. “If you’re trying to be seductive, you’re awful at it.”

“That’s never my intention!”

“Then what are you even trying to do?”

Confident he had Kakashi back where he wanted him, Guy’s legs wrapped around Kakashi’s warm body, as so did his arms. A wide smile shined upon his radiant face as he gave an honest answer, “I just like to make you smile!”

Now it was finally Kakashi’s turn to be flustered and turn bright red. “How have you always managed to say the most embarrassing thing?” Kakashi smothered Guy’s face with a fluffy pillow again, forcing Guy to release his hold on him. “Do mornings just make you lose all sense of shame?”

Guy freed himself from the pillow and took a gasp of breath. “Why should I be ashamed of my honest declarations of youth and love?! You’re so cruel, Rival! You’re heartless! That cavalier attitude still makes you cool, though…!”

Kakashi leaned in to kiss him in what Guy suspected was yet another success attempt at shutting him up. And again, Guy responded in earnest, dropping the argument to savor the softness of Kakashi’s lips. “I can’t believe you still think I’m cool,” he teased, resting their foreheads together.

Kakashi leaned his head back and Guy shifted too; a dance they’d done so many mornings before. He began to kiss at Kakashi’s bared neck, sucking and biting gently. His hands that had been resting around Kakashi’s stomach came up to toy with his nipples through his shirt.

Guy loved having Kakashi under him, kissing him slow and deep in the sleepy rhythms of the morning, squashed and nestled under the weight of Guy’s body. He loved feeling the little stifled huffs of laughter under his lips and the slight struggle as his rival pulled at him wordlessly, arms winding around his neck and fingers curling through his hair; _closer, closer, please_. Guy’s arms wrapped around Kakashi’s neck as Kakashi’s hands tightly gripped his hips.

When they pulled apart, Guy shot Kakashi his dopiest smile, and they were so close, he thought he could feel Kakashi’s heart skip a beat.

“…Best two out of three.” Kakashi whispered, gently massaging his fingers into Guy’s hip.

Guy didn’t need clarification. He raised his fist, but paused to give Kakashi a deploring look. “No cheating.”

Kakashi rolled his two black eyes. “I don’t even have a sharingan anymore, how would I cheat?”

Guy nodded, and the two of them faced each other, hands outstretched, fists over palms. Guy inhaled through his nose as he waited for the other man to begin.

“Rock, Paper, Scissors, shoot—!”

Rock over scissors. In Kakashi’s favor. _Damn it._

They went again. “Rock, Paper, Scissors, shoot—”

Scissors over paper. Guy won that one. _Thank goodness._

“Rock, Paper, Scissors,” they repeated one more time. Their movements mirrored each other until, “Shoot!” Guy planted his fist firmly in the open palm of his hand.

Kakashi smirked, and Guy pouted as Kakashi covered his fist with his flat palm.

Paper over rock.

“Point for me. We’re tied now,” Kakashi bragged. “Sit up.”

Guy rearranged himself so he was slightly elevated, kneeling on his one good leg and letting the other hang off the bed. Kakashi knelt down in front of him and pushed his legs farther apart. This was Kakashi’s prize, a comfortable arrangement the two had adopted over years.

Guy peeked down as he moved his fingers through Kakashi’s messy fringe, marveling silently at the way his rival could look so handsome even with that ridiculous bed-hair. Kakashi rubbed his temple against Guy’s palm like an old tortoise seeking a caress, and Guy wondered if maybe he really was letting them spend too much time together.

To others, Kakashi might have come off like a mysterious, suave Casanova somehow, but Guy knew him too well to think that. He knew how Kakashi secretly loved to be the little spoon, how he thought Guy’s dumb jokes were the funniest things he’s ever heard, and how he loves to be the giver in bed, as if he’s permanently amazed to have Guy there, or somehow terrified that he’ll lose him.

Kakashi loved taking the head of Guy’s cock in his mouth, letting it slip slowly inside over his wet lips, feeling it quiver under the pressure of his tongue as he took the shaft in slowly, inch by throbbing inch. Guy stiffened and groaned with pleasure, and he could feel Kakashi’s smile around his dick.

“Fuck, keep going,” Guy panted out, lightly pushing Kakashi’s head closer. “You feel so good, Rival… Kakashi–”

As always, Kakashi loved the encouragement. He had no intention of stopping; he always loved experimenting with licks and sucks, drawing his rival’s foreskin down with his fist to leave the glistening head exposed, trailing his tongue along the slit as he felt the bright bubbles of precum breaking on his tongue. He lapped and sucked, humming with pleasure; they both loved this part, the moans and shudders as Guy rocked with the effort of not letting it end too soon.

Kakashi and Guy had played these games countless times before, but, like most challenges between them, it never felt any less fresh or intense. After all, this was Kakashi. The love of Guy’s life so far. In Guy’s mind, no matter how old they grew together, true love would never grow stale!

Being with Kakashi was excited and adventurous, full of unleashed possibility. He always felt like he could snap his fingers and strike fire with just the feelings he had for Kakashi. He’d never felt so alive, so full of energy, so full of love.

It was so hard to hold back when Kakashi was below him looking like _that_, tangled hair tickling Guy’s thighs and the long-lashed eyes glancing up at him; the soft murmurs as Kakashi bobbed and dipped his head in time with his thrusts to take Guy’s cock deeper and deeper, sucking with eyes half-closed as if Guy was a delicious treat that he’d been craving. The sight alone was almost too much already, and Guy was starting to get close, so he closed his eyes to prolong the moment, groaning at the warm sensation as he slid along Kakashi’s tongue and down his throat. He could feel his cock hardening with need under the strong, rhythmic suck. Guy gripped the bedsheets and started to draw his knees up, his balls raising, “Kakashi—”

“You sound close,” Kakashi murmured, suddenly pulling off.

Kakashi loved to be a giver in bed, but he also loved to be a tease. Guy couldn’t even fault him for it, it was a trait they shared.

Guy jerked his head up and opened his eyes. “You’re underestimating my endurance,” he panted out.

Silver eyebrows quirked up. “We’ll see.”

Kakashi grabbed Guy’s hips and flipped him over easily onto his stomach. Kakashi liked to show off his strength at times like this. Guy groaned as his swollen cock grazed the mattress.

“Did that hurt your leg?” A sliver of concern weaved itself into Kakashi’s voice.

“No, only my pride.” Guy’s breath caught as his face smushed into the pillow before he readjusted to a comfortable stance.

With an audible sigh of relief, Kakashi held him down with a palm on the flat of his back. “That’s a lie. Your pride’s bulletproof.” Guy could hear Kakashi reach over to grab the lube from the nightstand and spread a generous amount in his hands.

Guy shifted slightly, felt Kakashi’s erection, and grinded his hips as best as he could against it. As always, despite his nonchalant attitude, Kakashi was inwardly just as “passionate” as Guy. “I had to train my pride just like everything else. It needed to be as tough as any armor.” But Guy wasn’t as strong as he used to be, and he was always weak to Kakashi, in some ways. Two things he wouldn’t admit out loud. Kakashi already knew them.

Kakashi caressed Guy up and down the thigh, hands trailing higher and higher until they were where they needed to be. He ran them over Guy’s ass and gave it a squeeze. Guy gasped at the way his thumbs dug in, lightly massaging as Guy pushed back to open himself up to him.

Then, the tip of his wet finger prodded lightly at Guy’s entrance. The intrusion made Guy arch his back, legs shifting listlessly against the sheets.

“I can tell you have something on your mind,” Kakashi said abruptly, tone easy, like now was the perfect time to make light conversation. His finger shifted easily into Guy, teasing and stretching.

Guy let out a breathy chuckle. “You’ve always seen straight through me, haven’t you, Rival?”

“Something like that. It’s not like anything’s ever on your mind except for me. It doesn’t make you very hard to read.” Guy stretched easily. Kakashi fit a second finger in without much ado. He leaned over Guy to kiss from his neck up to his jaw, and finally whispered against the shell of his ear, “But we’re too old for all those mind games now. If you have something to say, say it.”

A strange thing to hear from Kakashi, of all people. But Guy had always paradoxically been the more private of the two, in a way. There was still quite a lot left unsaid between the two of them.

“I just… I really do think it’s pretty incredible. This isn’t the sort of life I could have ever imagined for myself.”

If they were younger, Kakashi would have made a quip about the fact that Guy had actually imagined himself dead by now. Instead, he asked, “What sort of life?” Kakashi’s free hand lightly ghosted over Guy’s erection, and Guy had to catch his breath before he could answer.

“…When I come home, you’re always here before me to welcome me with a smile. You’ve gotten dangerously close to replicating my secret curry recipe, which I’ve only told to my beloved students. You’re always watching out for me or over me. You’re just… always by my side. It’s almost scary.”

Kakashi added another finger and crooked them as he worked into Guy. He knew he’d found the right spot when each push in made Guy’s legs shudder. Guy’s head lolled back as he felt himself creep back towards his orgasm, his body trembling from the built-up tension, “Kakashi—”

Kakashi suddenly pulled out, removing the fingers entirely. Guy’s body instinctively tried to follow Kakashi’s fingers back, but pressure on the small of his back kept him in place.

“Geez, thanks, Guy, good to know that me being nice is _scary_. How do you think I felt when you kept being there for me, hm? Being the one thing keeping me grounded. Offering challenges as distractions. Making sure I’m eating and not spending all my time at the graveyards. Getting me assigned to a genin team and out of ANBU. Jumping in to save me. You’ve always been _terrifying_.”

“That’s not—” Guy started, but the words were knocked out of him as Kakashi’s cock slid into him.

Kakashi was a methodical, careful man. There was no pain in the stretch, nothing felt alien or wrong about the intrusion, just a pleasing, satisfying fullness pressing into him, and Guy wasn’t sure how much longer he could draw this out.

Guy’s hair fell over his face and his eyes grew dark as Kakashi rocked and thrusted into him. Guy grinded his hips unsteadily against the bed, conscious only of how good it felt to be taken like this, as Kakashi’s pace steadily quickened, just slow enough to keep Guy aching on the edge of pleasure and desire. Guy knew Kakashi loved to make him curse and moan into the pillow like this.

“Guy…” There was nothing better to Guy than hearing Kakashi saying his name in that low, husky voice. An admission that Kakashi was just as close as he was. It did more to fuel Guy’s arousal than the physical ministration.

Kakashi curled his slicked fingers around Guy’s jutting cock, letting it sink into his palm as Guy moaned and started to grind himself down; alternating between thrusting hard into Kakashi’s palm and arching himself back to fuck himself against Kakashi’s dick.

“…Of course, I know what you mean,” Kakashi finally said, words spoken through a breathy grunt as he hammered into Guy. He talked to the rhythm of his thrusts. “I understand what you’re saying. It’s just, I’ve made enough mistakes in my life. A lot of them have involved you. Shutting you out, belittling you, pretending like I was ignoring you. I don’t want to add any more to that. We gave enough of ourselves to the village and our duties. I get to decide who I give what’s left of me to. I want to make it up to you. For all those times you were the scary one. It’s my turn now.”

Every day, Kakashi and Guy told each other, in one way or another, in different words or none at all, “I love you.”

Today, it was, _“I want to make you smile, too,”_ mumbled against Guy’s skin, the sweet declaration and unbearably fond tone more than enough to bring Guy to climax.

There was a sigh, a groan, and a sudden warm pulsing dripped down between his legs as Kakashi shuddered out his own release, before he grunted and collapsed lazily on top of Guy.

They lay stuck together with sweat and sperm and something more than that, that made neither of them ever want to pull away. “That was a tie,” sighed Kakashi into his neck, and Guy couldn’t even answer, just smiling idiotically into the sudden silence. He was a bit squashed, but he loved being under Kakashi. It was a comfortable weight. A pleasant bit of pain.

When Kakashi did roll off of Guy, he propped his head up on one elbow with an inquisitive expression on his face. It was clear as day in his two dark eyes.

Guy stared back, mesmerized.

Even after all this time, Guy wasn’t used to this openness from Kakashi, had not yet acclimated to the idea that he could just look at him, really _look at him_ for as long as he wanted. They had always been close, or Guy had always liked to think they were close, at least, but particularly since Kakashi had retired, he had become oddly, uncharacteristically… agreeable.

It felt like a strange luxury. Even now, with the calm, in the peace left after everything, his heart pounded wildly whenever Kakashi looked at him like _that_.

Kakashi reached forward to stroke a lock of black hair back from his face, tucking it behind his ear. He was smiling that knowing smile again. “Your hair’s getting too long. Let me cut it later today.” Guy might take him up on that offer, if the two of them ever found the strength to escape the comfort of this bed. Kakashi continued to thread his fingers through Guy’s hair. “Or you can grow it out again. Like when we were kids.”

Guy remembered having longer hair down to his shoulders, and he couldn’t say he missed the look. The longer hair framed his chubby face, already round with baby fat, and made everyone think he was somehow younger than Kakashi back then. He used to be more indignant about that. “I don’t think long hair ever suited me.”

Guy closed his eyes as Kakashi drew close enough to nuzzle into his hair, hands reaching up to softly stroke Guy’s arms, running his fingers over old and new scars.

“I thought you were cute,” he whispered, placing a kiss on Guy’s jaw.

Guy snorted and shoved Kakashi back. “No, you didn’t. You and Genma can say whatever you like, but the bowl cut was an improvement.”

“Hm…” Kakashi flashed him another amused smile. “…We can make a competition of it.”

“—You’re on!”

And Kakashi was laughing again. It was rare to succeed in getting Kakashi to laugh this much this early. No matter what their official score reflected, Guy couldn’t consider this morning anything less than a rousing success.

“That got you going,” Kakashi teased again.

“Our rivalry always does! A chance to prove myself to you is what I’ve always loved the most!”

“Is that what our rivalry is to you? You really are a pervert.”

Kakashi didn’t let Guy respond. He closed the very narrow gap between them again, placed the smallest of kisses on the corner of his mouth, then another, back to the center, lips brushing lips, but just barely. A whisper more than a kiss, really. Still, it sent tendrils of heat throughout Guy’s body and soon he was aflame.

He grasped either side of Kakashi’s face and kissed him firmly, tangled fingers through grey, soft hair. His lips moved and coaxed confidently, extracting each and every one of Kakashi’s responses. Nimble little bites, tip of tongue searching, exploring, circling back hungrily to savor again and again, kissing in length and pausing to talk about anything that came to mind, trivial things, lofty things, things about their pasts and their futures, quips about who really was the bigger pervert between them. 

Kakashi’s hands played at his sides, stroking and gripping, slender fingers slipping under his shirt. Soft fingertips traced patterns again Guy’s skin. When Guy pulled back, he could that Kakashi was smiling again.

When they were both too tired to keep up the small talk, Guy allowed himself to simply be held by Kakashi.

“You’re really into it today, Guy. Did you get into my books?” Kakashi teased. “I knew you’d see the light eventually.”

“That is one light I still do not want to appreciate,” Even though, through no choice of his own, Guy had read all the books by now. The things he would do for a challenge… “And it’s not just me. You’re the one that started it,” Guy grumbled, and Kakashi laughed, and this felt like any of their other good-hearted arguments over little things.

“So, was it good?”

“It was! I could expect nothing less from my rival! Every time is somehow better than the last!” Guy declared, dramatic and grinning and proud. His earlier indignance had vanished in an instant.

“Then let’s go again.”

“—What?” Guy choked out, and Kakashi laughed at the way his bravado gave way to surprise.

“_Again_,” Kakashi cutely whined.

Guy laughed back. Now it was his turn to roll his eyes and sigh. “You’re supposed to be far too old for this, Rival.”

“Maybe you finally rubbed off on me. I’m youthful at heart, too.”

Guy could feel Kakashi grinding against him. “That is not your heart.”

Kakashi ducked his face down to suppress what was definitely laughter this time, but didn’t stop moving his hips. “Well, it’s close enough,” he argued, and kissed Guy to silence any further argument on the subject.

“You’re into it today, too, Kakashi.”

“Maybe. I guess it’s because…” Kakashi let Guy go and scooted back slightly. “I wasted too much time before. I should have told you sooner. I loved you so long, Guy. I’m glad you’ve managed to stay by my side despite everything. I want to grow old with you. I want to do right by you, this time.”

The admission evoked sudden, sweet heartache. Tears brimmed the rims of Guy’s eyes and before he was aware of his actions, he was hiding his face away in their pillows. He could hear Kakashi’s laughter. “Dammit, Kakashi! Do you have any idea how long I fought to see that smile? You’re only so open and carefree _now_, after all these years?! It’s not fair! How is my heart supposed to take it?”

“What’s wrong with me opening up?” Kakashi deadpanned sardonically, “Why should I be ashamed of my honest declarations of youth and love?”

“Because you being that honest violates the natural order!” Guy shot back readily. He pulled up from the pillows, gesturing wildly with as much freedom of movement as he could have from his position on the bed. “I feel like the moon is going to fall again!”

Kakashi scoffed as he sunk into the bed, his arms folded behind his head. “Well if it does, I won’t be in charge of the contingency plan this time, and neither will you.”

“Maybe not.” Guy sat up and grinned, giving himself plenty of space to do a proper Nice Guy pose. “But I’ll be right by your side the entire time for this disaster, too! You need me, after all!”

Instead of vehemently denying it or brushing it off, Kakashi stared for a moment, then grinned. “Yeah. I do need you.”

Guy blinked down at him with a surprised glance. These days, Kakashi seemed very good at rendering his rival speechless, which was a feat by itself.

“…Hey, Guy,” prompted Kakashi.

Like he’d just rediscovered his own voice, “Yeah, Kakashi?”

Kakashi encircled one arm around his waist, and Guy wriggled back until their bodies were flush against each other. With his other hand, he brushed away strands of hair to press a kiss to the nape of his neck. “I’m glad you’re alive.” Kakashi’s favorite alternative to “I love you”.

Guy grinned. “I’m glad you’re alive too, Rival.”

It was already later than Guy would like, and he should already be out doing his exercises. But the thought of staying in his rival’s arms was so alluring today.

He couldn’t help but lay his head back down and enjoy it a little more.

Under the blankets, Guy’s shirt had ridden up on his abdomen where Kakashi’s arm fell over it, revealing a strip of bare skin that Kakashi touched gently. His hand rubbed light, slow circles until they both lost consciousness, surrendering easily to sleep.

At this point, Guy was sure both he and Kakashi knew. They were going to love each other, always. Eternity was for more than just their rivalry now. Still, they always tried to find some way to put it into words, after a long lifetime of too much left unsaid and unheard.

And they would wake up again, and tell each other again, over and over again,

“I’m glad you’re alive.”

_I love you._

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, they were wearing shirts and nothing else for the entirety of this story. Thank you for noticing, dear reader!


End file.
